Our Peru Vacation Days 4-8

We did quite a bit of exploring. We checked out some of the things right around our hotel (yes the casinos, clubs & bars) and then spent the day at LarcoMar which is a large upscale shopping area full of restaurants and bars. While there we had lunch and then went for drinks at TGIFridays and watched the World Cup! Viva Espana!





After spending the day there we got lucky and met a friendly cab driver/tour guide named Francisco who spoke very good English.  Although my Spanish isn't terrible, it was really nice to run across him. He offered to give us a city tour which we took him up on on Tuesday.  But before that, on Monday we went on a trip outside of Lima to an area called Paracas via Cruz del Sur luxury bus line and toured Paracas Reserve...



 Then on to a little fishing village for lunch called Lagunilla. The contrasting views of the desert meeting the sea were breathtaking. We even got a chance to see the famous area where "Planet of the Apes" shot the shocking end scene of Charlton Heston riding his horse along the beach and just as he thinks he is home he sees the Statue of Liberty washed up on the beach! Such a beautiful place!!





On Tuesday we hooked back up with Francisco and got to see the "real Lima" and saw places that few tourists venture without a private guide. He then took us to a flea market called Blue Market where we got 13 DVD movies for $1 a piece! Oh yeah I forgot to mention that the US dollar goes quite a ways in Peru!!







All in all this trip was fabulous. Flying standby is a gamble but it was so generous of my cousin to give us such an opportunity to see a beautiful part of the world. So for that we are truly grateful.

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